England's joy at being the best Test team of the world has been short-lived. As the two teams travel a few kilometres away from Dubai to the magnificent Sheikh Zayed stadium in Abu Dhabi, all eyes will be on how England respond to the humiliating 3-day defeat at the hands of a team in resurgence. Questions have been asked about their ability to play spin and they will magnify further if England fail to put up a show at Abu Dhabi.

Pakistan are on a high after what has been termed as one of their best ever Test victories and will be further motivated at the slanderous accusations of the British media against their ace off-spinner, Saeed Ajmal. A humdinger of a contest awaits between a side riding high on self-belief and confidence up against one that wants to show to the world that they are no home track bullies and completely deserve the No. 1 ranking.

Pakistan: With every Test match, Misbah ul Haq is fast proving himself to be one of the better captains Pakistan has ever had. His conservative approach might have been termed boring but his tactical nous has had a damning effect on the opposition. After a long period, Pakistan have found a relatively stable pair at the top and the middle order has been able to make the most of the solidity provided by Mohd Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar. The captain himself has led by example while Younis Khan is batting like a dream. The last time the batting unit failed to deliver was against the West Indies in Providence in April, 2011 and this was also the last time that Misbah and his men tasted a Test defeat.

Pakistan have been blessed with great variety in their bowling attack, and it is no doubt one of the best they have had in recent years. Umar Gul has led the pace department well and has got good support from Aizaz Cheema. Saeed Ajmal has been the talk of the town for a lot of reasons. His much promised teesra remained a work of fiction, but the English batsmen were left bamboozled by an assortment of off-breaks and the doosra. While Ajmal has left the audience captivated and the opponents mystified, the left arm spinner Abdur Rehman has lent admirable support to his senior partner. Hafeez has chipped in with his off-breaks to make the attack look impregnable.

England: It goes to the credit of the English batsmen that they have not been drawn into a war of words over the bowling action of Saeed Ajmal, but they will know that they have to come up with a better batting effort if they are to stay alive in the Test series. Alastair Cook and Ian Bell, the shining lights during their ascendency to the No. 1 spot had a rare double failure while the rest of the batsmen barring Matt Prior failed to offer any resistance. An under par score in both the innings was not what coach Andy Flower would have bargained for. The tentativeness of the batsmen against quality spin was evident and the batting coach Graham Gooch has quite a task in preparing the visitors ahead of tougher examinations against spin.

The bowling unit performed as a group despite missing another spinner at times. James Anderson and Stuart Broad showed that they could bowl under any conditions while Swann wheeled away posing plenty of problems for the batsmen. Chris Tremlett went wicketless, the first time ever in his international career but the bowling unit looks settled and will hope for some support from the batsmen.

Team News:

Chris Tremlett is a doubtful starter after sustaining a back injury. He might be replaced by either Graham Onions if England are to go in with a third seamer or Monty Panesar if conditions dictate a second spinner.

Pakistan have no reasons to make any changes to the winning combination. They might look to replace the sedate Asad Shafiq with the explosive Umar Akmal.

Trivia:

When Cook and Strauss stride out to the middle, it will be the 100th time they will be opening together.

Abu Dhabi has hosted 2 Tests involving Pakistan. Both Tests have ended in a draw.

Final Word:

Another trial by spin awaits the visitors, one that will determine the eventual result of the series.